Loading the journal
Problem 9 of 159MediumNeetCode~25 min
Top K Frequent Elements
Hash Tables (Frequency Counter)
Asked at 12 companies
12 recent
- SoFi
- Meta
- Snap
- Apple
- eBay
- Amazon
- TikTok
- Walmart Labs
- Snowflake
- Nvidia
+2 moreShow fewer
- PayPal
Community-reported · source · updated 2026-10-08. ● asked in the last 6 months.
Go step by step: try it yourself before the video and the visual. Progress saves on this device.
Step 1
Know these before you start
Tick what you already know
Concept videoStep 2
Try it on paper
5–10 minutes, no code yet
About this problem
Frequency counting + sorting/heap for top K
Read the full statement and examples on NeetCode, try it for 25 min, then come back for the walkthrough and the step-by-step visual.
Step 6
Get it accepted
All test cases pass
Step 7
Review it so it sticks
Re-solve from memory after
Solve it yourself before you look
Reading the solution first feels like progress, but it makes the next similar problem — and the interview version — much harder, because you skipped the part where you figure it out. Give it an honest 20–30 minutes. Stuck? Re-read the pattern, watch the concept video, or try the brute force first.
Hidden: optimal solution